


Jar of Hearts

by Cupcakemolotov



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Blood Sharing, F/M, Smut, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 08:42:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8006128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupcakemolotov/pseuds/Cupcakemolotov
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a society where vampire allegiance is worn openly on their skin, Caroline Forbes is anomaly. She woke from transition marked by a single triangle. For six decades, she's hidden the truth of her allegiance, refusing to abandon what family she has left. Klaus Mikaelson's sudden appearance in Chicago bodes well for no one. For Klaus has spent five hundred years burying the truth of his curse, given as bloody vengeance for the death of Katerina. </p><p>Klaus has a soulmate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you for unwillingsuspensionofdisbelief on tumblr for allowing me to take her amazing head canon regarding the travelers and to play with it again.

The day she buried Bonnie Bennett it was snowing. Chicago was unforgiving, the wind cut through the small cemetery and she almost wished she could feel the cold. Hands shoved into her pockets, she stared at the little headstone her friend had wanted.

"Nothing ridiculous, Caroline. Not when we both know you're the only one who'll miss me. You won't need a fancy grave with me rotting inside to remember me. You can't even put my real name on it."

Right then, Caroline would've given anything to have one of those smiling digs tossed at her. For sixty years, Caroline and Bonnie had kept a low profile, mostly sticking to themselves. Most of the vampires whom she'd associated with over the years had been the unloyal, and those without the mark that bound them into what Caroline had always thought of as a type of slavery.

An entire society, built on nothing more than a single mark bestowed on a vampire at its making. Sometimes, the mark was a reference to a single vampire, sometimes it referred to a particular family. A guideline, of sorts, to who you were most likely to be loyal too. Regardless of who your mark referenced, if betrayed, that mark disappeared.

For many, that betrayal resulted in death.

Caroline just didn't understand the logic behind such a spell. Loyalty was earned, not taken, and how could a spell know the depths of a person's heart? A new vampire was a cocktail of horrible and wonderful things, how did magic declare that this family or that person was who you'd be loyal too?

Once, and _only once_ , had Caroline heard it suggested that the spell was something else. Not the basis for a class system based on some cryptic idea of loyalty, but a punishment. A soulmate spell that had gone terribly, tragically wrong.

Bonnie had been unimpressed with that particular explanation.

" _Of course that would've gone badly. Old magic always goes badly. What was the spell anchored with?" Eyes narrowed, she'd snorted in derision even as she picked at her food in the dingy little bar they'd been eating in._

_The vampire frowned. "You smell human, girl."_

_Bonnie gave him a flat smile, eyes narrowed. "I am."_

" _Human girls don't need to be sticking their noses into witch business," he'd warned. "That's how you get killed."_

" _Don't I know it."_

Caroline knew it too.

She'd awoken with blood between her teeth and her best friend's screams in her ears. She'd never forget, the way sun had burned against her skin; Bonnie's face when she'd walked away. Bonnie who'd staggered back to their shared on-campus apartment a week later, pale and _broken_ in ways that Caroline hadn't known a human could survive.

Bonnie had paid for their lives with her magic.

Caroline had promised that if she ever saw Abby Bennett again she'd destroy her. It was a promise she intended to keep. Witches could live a long time, but so could a vampire. The world wasn't so large that you could hide forever.

Sometimes, she wondered how they'd ever muddled through that first year of her vampirism. Bonnie terrified of her monster; Caroline was desperate for control. But eventually, they'd made a wary truce and one day, Bonnie had handed her a pretty ring.

" _I know someone… I'm sorry I got you into this."_

" _We're friends, Bonnie." Caroline murmured, eyes grave. "Where else would I be?"_

_Fingertips careful, Bonnie traced the perfect triangle stamped onto Caroline's left wrist. "Whoever this belongs too, I hope they're worthy of the strength of your heart, Caroline."_

But Caroline never intended to track the mysterious vampire down. Eternity was long enough without adding to it someone who'd expect unending loyalty. For what?

The only person she'd cared about was dead

Lifting her head at the sound of car doors shutting, she glanced at the black SUV. A handful of people walked out, and she sighed as her quiet was broken. What did it mean, that she came to a graveside to think?

Chicago was changing.

The eclectic underground of vampires had been rapidly shifting over the past two years. Most of the unmarked vampires she knew were under five decades, and they'd all been twitchy lately. Troubling rumors that the Originals had returned stateside left everyone jumpy. That family left nothing but blood and terror in its wake. Caroline had heard the horror stories of those few individuals who bore their marks, the unyielding loyalty that did not bend.

The mark on her wrist burned today.

Maybe it was time to do as Bonnie had suggested and start looking for new adventures.

* * *

Klaus had known the feel of wanderlust, had spent most of his life being hunted. Sitting still for months on end grated. This was hardly his first trip to the States, Chicago in particular. He might've preferred his seat of power in New Orleans, but Chicago was useful.

But as he sat at the familiar bar in _Gloria's_ for the first time in nearly twelve decades, that faint, niggling itch eased. Gaze narrowing, he scanned the premises. Nothing seemed unusual as the regulars filtered in, but he knew the pull of magic. He'd lived with the consequences of it in various forms for a thousand years.

"You're going to scare away my customers, and while you're good for the bill, I'd like to keep them all the same."

Klaus arched a brow and finished his drink. "Now, Gloria. I've been a model customer tonight."

Sharp eyes watched him as she refilled his glass. "Just keep whatever you're hunting off my doorstep."

Was he hunting? Glancing into the mirror that sat behind the bar to look at the occupants, Klaus considered her words. Chicago was supposed to have been quick, a little side trip for some bones Kol had left behind on his last little killing spree. Bones could be useful things, in the hands of the correct witch, so Klaus had agreed.

But actively hunting?

He tapped his fingers along the bar, and considered. He wasn't particularly fond of being at magic's mercy, had developed a bit of a taste for torturing those who tried to use it against him. Very few had managed to both fail and succeeded as spectacularly as little Katerina's witch family.

Not that that particular bloodline existed anymore. He'd ground their bones to dust, salted the lot and dispersed bits and pieces over the centuries into the ocean. That family would bother him no more.

But their last spell lingered.

Kol had coined it the loyalty curse, and over the years, the phrase had stuck. It had taken a few decades, to understand the nuances of the spell that had been bound to his family's blood (and by extension, every vampire created) with Katerina's doppelgänger blood. And what an interesting gift it had been, even if the bitter truth at the center of everything had been so carefully concealed.

 _Soulmates_.

His gaze narrowed at the thought.

His family had been careful to provide only very specific information to the vampire populace, much as they had with the Sun and Moon curse. A few over the years had stumbled across the truth, but they were disposed of easily enough.

Now, it was common knowledge that vampires were marked by the magical oaths they swore. The brokering of those oaths was an accepted part of their society. Failure to maintain their oathbound loyalty meant a messy and lingering death.

But the pesky little spell liked to cause occasional havoc, and there had been a few spontaneous markings over the years. A throwback to the soulmate intentions of the original spell. Those instances were rare and difficult to explain, and usually resulted in multiple deaths.

Klaus was willing to admit he was a jealous creature. He'd no use for a soulmate, had no desire for the weakness it would carve along his chest, but rarely did he allow others to keep what he was denied.

But magic did not stay tightly confined to its boundaries, and even as Klaus had bent the spell to his whims, it had… changed. Originally, his intent had been to bury the true meaning of his curse, to limit those who understood exactly how soulmate magic worked. In that regard, he'd been successful. Soulmates were rare, and that both would find themselves reborn as vampires was rarer still. But just because the odds were against them didn't mean that a vampire born wearing a soulmate mark didn't occasionally happen.

Eventually, the existence of paired soulmates would filter to him. Klaus studied each couple thoroughly; torturing and testing their loyalty, the magic between them. What did the magic the travelers unleashed _see_ and how did he prevent the culmination of the curse? Not even the brightest of witches could say.

To complicate matters, over the years it became clear that his attempts to modify the spell had altered some of the original spell's intentions. Now each oath mark was a true indicator of allegiance; not just an indication of a vampire submitting to the curse. It had become a physical representation of their magical oath of fidelity and marks could _change_.

Perhaps his paranoia, his need for utmost loyalty had twisted the magic. For a few decades, he'd hoped that meant the possibility of a soulmate was eradicated. Then a vampire named Enzo had shown up at their London property, sporting a familiar mark on his left wrist. The fit that Bekah had thrown, the terror she had rained through the house until he'd agreed not to kill the vampire had been absurd.

Enzo was wary of the family and their politics, but even Klaus had grudgingly admitted that once settled, Enzo was fiercely loyal to Rebekah. Elijah had approved, but Klaus was holding back an opinion for a few more centuries. Regardless of Rebekah's insistence that Enzo was _hers_.

"I don't know what you're so paranoid about, Nik. He is mine. Logic would suggest you'd have someone too; we all have cursed marks." Rebekah had stared at him with cold eyes. "And when you find your soulmate, whatever harm you do to Enzo, I'll repay fully. Remember that."

The type of loyalty he'd desire from such a creature was beyond most. To be truly willing to put someone before himself, regardless of the personal cost? Klaus wasn't sure he'd was capable of such selflessness, regardless of what the soulmate magic would demand from him. No doubt that was the travelers' hope. To feed those possessive, weak parts of his heart so that when he undoubtedly destroyed them both it'd ruin him.

He'd seen how soulmates dug into each other; the way magic scored into muscle and bone, until the pair carried bits and pieces of the other beneath their skin. How they were laid bare, tangling and bonding in ways he did not comprehend. The draw between soulmates only grew more potent as the years grew longer. Klaus did not understand how after a millennium he could be expected to focus on one creature. _Thirst_ , for a single vampire. To _crave_ another nightmares' acceptance and loyalty.

Yet, his wolf wanted that connection. The boy who'd died at his father's sword longed for it. The monster had spent five hundred years trying to eradicate the need for it from his chest. To have such a connection and then to lose it? Eternity would break, under such circumstances.

So he'd continued to hunt for a way to thwart his curse. But as his ever present need to be _somewhere_ faded, Klaus found himself fighting down his curiosity. His rage, his furious denials over the years mattered little now as he found himself facing the first real possibility of his previously ephemeral soulmates' existence. There was just a burning desire to have, to possess. What kind of creature did fate believe reflected the needs of his soul? He'd offer it pity, if he was capable of such an emotion.

If his soulmate was in this city, he'd find it.

Even if he had to level Chicago, building by building.

* * *

Caroline liked _Gloria's_. It was a curious mixture of sophisticated and rowdy; the witch who ran it had a no nonsense approach that Bonnie had admired. It had been months since she stopped by, but Gloria had sent her a lovely sympathy card. Caroline had always wondered if Gloria suspected Bonnie's heritage, but she'd never asked.

She was tired of silence. So she'd braced against the fresh falling snow and headed out. The walk was pretty, most of the city ducking for cover and her heart eased a little. Caroline smiled at a group of men, let her eyes warn them as she approached the bar.

She'd learned a long time ago that her monster was an asset. Fresh in the supernatural, Bonnie stripped of her powers, her fangs had been the only defense they'd had. Caroline had embraced her vampirism, and she loved life. One day, she'd find Abby Bennett and make her suffer, for the years she'd stolen from her daughter.

The bar was packed.

Unwinding her scarf, she blinked as she took in the surprising crowd. It wasn't a weekend, for this crowd to be quite this unruly. There was a band playing and the laughter was a touch intoxicated. Weaving her way to the bar, she smiled at the exasperate bartender.

"I was expecting a little bit of a quieter night," Caroline said as she accepted the Bloody Mary that was pushed in her direction.

"Some old friends are in town," Gloria murmured. "Very _old_ friends."

"What's going on?

Gloria looked at her for a long moment. "It might not be a bad thing, Caroline, that you're in mourning. Think about staying that way, until things settle down."

Caroline frowned and took a sip of her drink. In the five decades she'd known Gloria, she'd never seen that particular glint behind the witch's eyes. Licking her lip, she nodded. Gloria knew of Caroline's reluctance to take any type of loyalty vow, but Caroline had never given her details. She liked the witch, but Gloria hadn't reached her age by putting others first.

She stayed at the bar for an hour, studying the crush of people while she chatted with Gloria. She knew some of the vampires that came and went, congregating in the back booths. Older vampires, who kept their fingers in the supernatural and had large collections of loyalty oaths.

She was digging in her bag for her scarf when someone stepped between the stools and leaned against the bar. Caroline straightened, just as unfamiliar, clipped British caught her attention. Her gaze flicked up, and she caught the corner of her lip at the sight of dark blond curls, and a curling smile as he placed his order. He was attractive, but it was the edge of his smile that stirred her beast.

Warning sparked down her spine.

"Excuse me," Caroline murmured as she moved to slip by. He glanced at her with dark eyes before his attention was caught by Gloria. She went to shift past him, murmuring her apology as the edge of her jacket brushed him. Static electricity arced between, and she froze when long fingers curled around her left wrist.

Glancing up, Caroline narrowed her gaze and tugged against that hold. "Let go."

His eyes were very blue, but the edges bled with yellow she didn't understand. Head tilting, Caroline's stomach flipped at the crawling pit behind his eyes. There was something old watching her, and the predator under her skin crawled into her gaze.

"Who are you, sweetheart?" A tilt of his head, and his voice lowered. "More importantly, who exactly do you belong to?"

She tugged harder, and that just seemed to amuse him. Lips curling to show a set of dimples, he flipped her hand over and froze at the sight of bare skin. Heart hammering in her throat, she almost stumbled when he released her. He looked puzzled, as if he'd expected to find a mark, and she took the opportunity of Gloria calling his name to bolt.

 _Klaus_.

Surely that wasn't _the_ Klaus. Fingers trembling, she set a brisk pace and tried to ignore way she could still feel his fingers pressed against her skin. Tried not to wonder what would have happened if she hadn't hidden the triangle tatoo on her wrist.

* * *

For two weeks, he'd roamed the supernatural of Chicago. There was an interesting little subculture made up of young vampires trying to avoid a loyalty oath. Tonight's meeting had been to discuss that subset, to dig through the bones of those who'd allowed even a _few_ baby vampires to believe they could avoid service to his family.

Not that the magic that sat in their veins would allow them to avoid taking a vow past their fifth decade. But five decades of freedom were more than Klaus was willing to allow. He'd made that clear to those who thought themselves the ruling class of the city, reminded them of whose favor they wished to maintain.

Sitting in the quiet as Gloria's people worked to clean the bar, Klaus mulled over that night's surprise. Six or so decades of vampirism, and no loyalty mark. He should be considering how to make an example of her; he wanted to dig under her skin, understand how she'd avoided the magic that clung to his family's creations.

She hadn't carried the scent of a ripper, and at six decades, the magic should have been tugging at her veins. Klaus was intrigued and should have been concentrating on unraveling the amusing puzzle in front of him. Instead, he found himself thinking of the darkness of her gaze and the veins beneath her eyes.

She was quite lovely.

But it wasn't the blond curls and dark eyes that interested him. He'd ruined creatures far more beautiful than her. Drumming his fingers against counter, Klaus frowned deeply before finishing his drink.

The young vampire hadn't flinched from the hint of his monster. Brave of her. He'd liked that hint of steel. She'd need it. Because regardless of her bare skin, her touch had hummed against him. It was possible that she'd hidden her oath, and wasn't that a tempting new puzzle?

Intriguing or not, the young vampire hadn't side stepped his family's curse entirely. He'd _felt_ the magic on her skin; the same magic every vampire carried. Tossing down a wad of bills, Klaus stood. He planned on leaving Chicago as soon as he'd collected what belonged to him, and until then, he saw no reason to be bored. A conversation with the lovely vampire from the bar seemed to be just the distraction he needed.

* * *

Caroline tried to grip the slippery chains with her hands. Anything for a bit of leverage, to ease the pressure on her ruined wrists. The wound in her side had slowed, but it wasn't closing. She'd lost too much blood to heal. Carefully, she shifted her grip. Breath hitching, she clenched her jaw tightly to keep from crying out as her grip slipped, and she jerked painfully against the chains.

Her toes didn't quite touch the floor.

Chest heaving, she opened her eyes to study the line of sunshine moving across the floor. She knew the pain of burning in the sun. She'd dessicate herself breaking free of the chains before she'd burn inch by slow inch. Biting back exhausted tears of frustration, Caroline took a deep breath. All she could smell now was the heavy metallic scent of her blood. Still, she'd remember the vampire who'd tortured her, as Abby Bennett had watched.

 _Abby Bennett_ had stood in her apartment.

" _You can't hold out," Abby had told her, smile amused. She'd waved the vampire away, so she could approach Caroline, eyes mocking. "A few hours from now, you'll have twisted around on those chains like a fish while the sun cooks you. We'll see how loose your tongue is then."_

_Caroline said nothing, letting only the harsh sounds of her breathing fill the space between them._

" _You know, Caroline, I'd have killed you the moment you transitioned, if I'd know the conditions my daughter had put on her giving up her magic. It was such a disappointment, that she'd taken so strongly after my mother." Abby brushed her hair away from her eyes, lip curling downwards into a faint frown. "She certainly didn't take after her father."_

" _You didn't deserve her," Caroline ground out, blood flecking her lips._

" _What do you know of deserving?" Abby questioned, brow arching. "You who abandoned everything, left your parents behind to protect one useless girl?"_

" _Bonnie," Caroline rasped, "was my friend."_

_Abby dismissed her with a shrug. "So was the Gilbert girl; you didn't mourn her nearly as well, did you? Her death was a disappointment, I'd hoped to study her, the strange magic in her blood. Fate can be such a tricky bitch. Regardless, Caroline Forbes, you have my daughter's bones and I will have them."_

" _Go to hell."_

_Abby laughed. "We're already there, Care-bear. What does it matter if you linger? My daughter was your only real friend. It's not as if anyone will look for you."_

_She motioned to the vampire and perched herself back on her chair. "But until then, be a dear, and entertain me with your screams."_

Caroline would die, before she gave Abby Bennett anything. But she'd no intention of being here when they returned. Looking back upwards at the chains, Caroline bit down sharply on her lip. Moving hurt. Each breath, each shudder from the cold that had set into her bones, left her swaying painfully. She'd lost track of time, but the golden edge of sunlight that crept across her ruined floor told her enough.

Desperation gave her strength.

She managed to lurch a few, precious inches upwards before falling, wrists jerking with force so that her vision went hazy.

"Well now," a low, rumbling voice murmured. "This is hardly what I was expecting to find, love."

Caroline's eyes moved slowly to the front door of her apartment. She stared, chains trembling as she shook in continued agony. Wild curls, and a scruffy jaw, but his eyes held no amusement today. Klaus.

She wondered if she was hallucinating.

"Come to finish the job?" Her words were a ragged rasp, her monster desperately thirsty.

His lips curled, but the smile wasn't comforting. "If I want someone dead, sweetheart, you'll find I enjoy taking a far more, _personal_ interest. But I _am_ most curious."

Caroline could only stare at him from exhausted eyes as he pushed away from the door. His gaze moved slowly about her apartment before returning to her. Something about the set of his mouth, the arch of his brow pricked at the monster in her veins.

She was certain she wanted nothing to do with his curiosity.

The predator she'd only sensed last night was clear in his eyes and she clenched her jaw to keep from trembling from more than cold. "Tell me, little vampire, why do you believe I should be concerned with an unmarked of inconsequential age?"

Caroline straighten as best she could, tip toes barely grazing the floor slick with her blood. _Unmarked_. Such a simple word. Such a lie.

"You seem to have an issue with unmarked vampires, regardless of age," she managed to reply, words scraping along her raw throat. "I was told you wanted an example."

Abby had thought herself clever. So had the vampire with the knife who'd gloated, as she carved into parts of Caroline. No one would look at her murder as being unusual, not with the Hybrid in town. She'd be rolled under the proverbial rug, left to rot on the other side.

" _He doesn't look like a killer, Klaus," Abby had said, teeth white as she smiled. "With that face, and delicious build. Charming, our nightmare. But he's known for his penchant for torture. Tell me where you buried my daughter, and we'll let you die easy. There won't be a need to maintain this charade."_

" _He's vicious," the vampire murmured. "I was privileged to watch him work in Italy. Skinned a lad. It took three days, because the flesh kept growing back. Then, the lad was made to eat his organs, and later, his intestines. Whatever I do to you won't have Klaus' usual flare of course, but he's known for losing his temper. We'll just bash you about a bit."_

" _Or you you can give us your loyalty oath," Abby prompted, eyes gleaming. "Think about it, while the sun turns parts of you to ash."_

Fingertips that were oddly gentle brushed along her jaw, and Caroline parted lashes that she hadn't realized she'd closed. Klaus' touch burned against her skin, even after his hand fell away. Eyes holding hers, he licked her blood from his fingers and his gaze tinged yellow.

Why was he here? She doubted he knew about Abby Bennett, doubted he'd play clean up for any creature. But there was no reason for him to _be_ in her apartment.

"You're grey, love. You won't heal without blood," Klaus' smile was a blade. "Desiccation is a slow death."

"Better than burning," Caroline said hoarsely.

"Make me an offer," he murmured, head canting to the side. "I'll cut you down, give you the blood you desperately need. Surely your life is worth a mere oath."

Caroline closed her eyes. It hurt to draw air now, and thirst of her monster burned more than her wrists. Part of her longed to give him the oath, to let the falsehoods sit on her tongue. _She wanted to live_. But no vampire could carry more than one mark, and she'd been reborn with harsh lines already carved onto her skin.

Shuddering on her next breath, her words were like glass in her throat. "Shut the door on your way out."

"Tell me, Caroline," Klaus questioned, tone curious. "What is it that you find worth more than life?"

Nothing. Everything. A choice. Perhaps dying wasn't her choice, but it was _a_ choice, and those had been taken away from her for too long. Becoming a vampire. Giving an oath. Watching Bonnie die of old age, because of a mother's greed.

She didn't know why Abby wanted her daughter's bones, but she'd never get them. Caroline might not have been able to protect Bonnie when they'd been children, but she could now. The mark on her skin might've claimed her loyalty for an unknown vampire, but Bonnie was _her_ choice.

"That wasn't a request," Klaus warned softly. "You might be dying, but you are not there yet. Shall we see what pain I can add to your passing?"

Ass. But Caroline saw no reason not to answer, when she sat at death's door. Not when Klaus _could_ choose to extend her suffering. The dead kept their secrets.

"Choice," she managed, lashes fluttering, but not quite managing to part. "People deserve a _choice_."

"Now that's interesting," Klaus mused, his tone nearly thoughtful. His fingertips felt like brands against her cheekbone, and she shuddered, swinging heavily on the chains. "Most vampires consider loyalty to be a choice; wrong though they may be."

Dredging up what little strength she'd left, Caroline cracked open her eyes. Klaus' gaze was yellow now, and the wildness there left her muscles tense with alarm. He leaned forward, until their breaths mingled.

"What do you know of the loyalty curse?"

It was hard to focus. "It sucks."

A quirk of his lips, but Klaus didn't otherwise move. "I can let you die, but why not answer my question, buy yourself a little time? Perhaps a quicker ending?"

Loyalty curse. Caroline thought of the mark on her wrist, let herself consider all the questions she'd never asked for fear of attention. The rumors and myths, of what it meant to have one. Looking at the nightmare of her kind, Caroline wondered. What kind of creature wore _his_ mark?

"My loyalties are none of your business," she whispered with the last of her voice.

Klaus didn't move, but a pit opened behind his eyes and Caroline couldn't breathe. The weight of his gaze left her frozen as he flayed her open with the _age_ of that look. Judgement sat behind his eyes. Judge, jury, and executioner watched her with a terrible violence she _knew_ would leave her screaming with night terrors, should she survive.

Caroline tried to swallow, to blink, and coughed instead, rattling her lungs and the chains. Something primal rumbled in Klaus' chest, and she groaned as he stepped into her body. Then his arm slid around her waist and unexpectedly held her weight.

She shook her head, unable to speak.

"Indulge me," Klaus demanded, darkness layering his tone. Disbelief left her lightheaded, as he wound the chains in his hands and tore them free from the ceiling. He ignored the bloody floor as he crouched, studied her face.

Caroline's head lolled, as she tried to look at him. Whatever lived behind Klaus' gaze was tucked away again, behind the gold of the wolf, and iron studied her instead. His wrist lifted to the sharp curl of his lips, and she let her lashes close. The world was swimming, and even the scent of fresh blood couldn't focus her monster.

But the sudden taste…

It flooded across her tongue like ambrosia, and broken and bloody hands latched onto the forearm pressed against her mouth tightly. Caroline didn't care about the soft sound of amusement or the clanking of chains as she drank and _drank_. She didn't know how long she'd fed before she pulled back, the worst of the agony faded to mere aches.

"Better, sweetheart?"

Caroline dropped his arm like it'd scalded her. They sat in her blood, her wrists still wrapped in rusted iron, and his blood was the sweetest she'd ever had on her tongue. Eyes wide, she stared at Klaus who watched her with a gaze gone feral. Swallowing, Caroline licked her lips.

"I _will not_ swear an oath to you."

The hand in her hair shifted to curve around the nape of her neck and she tensed. There was something about his eyes, a certain amount of delight now that he'd passed judgement; a sense of him having _won_ thatCaroline did not understand.

"Hmm," Klaus mused, lips tugging upwards. "Most vampires have a very specific view of what a loyalty mark is and how it affects their position within society. Very few, would refuse a chance to become part of my household, regardless of the risks. To be sure, many of them lack the knowledge to understand why an oath is so dangerous. But I have gone to great lengths to ensure this. Rumors can shift of course, but I'm sure you've noticed that in a room with ten baby vampires, nine will tell the same story."

She studied him warily. "Why are you telling me this?"

Caroline nearly flinched, when his fingertips dragged lightly behind her ear, a dangerous caress. For all that his touch remained soft, his gaze threatened to swallow her whole.

"Over the years, I've seen only two types of vampires who refuse to swear a loyalty oath," Klaus murmured. "Particularly when it comes to saving their own lives. Bargains only require the correct amount of leverage, after all. Everyone has a price."

"I'm not interested in what you think is a bargain," Caroline said shakily.

"And isn't that fascinating," he said, smile quick and wide; her stomach went tight. "It doesn't particularly matter, sweetheart. Tell me, _how_ did you hide your mark?"

Her mouth went bone dry, as his eyes glittered at her.

"Come now," Klaus chastised as she shook her head in silent denial. "You are not a ripper. Blood does not override your ability to _be_. So that means you're marked. How did you hide it? I had my hands on your skin, I _felt_ the magic, but I let you go because your skin appeared bare."

"We were at a bar," Caroline countered weakly, fingers trembling. "It was full of magic."

He laughed, fingers sliding through her hair and she leaned away from him. "You are exceedingly clever, love. And I'm curious, why hide it? The right loyalty could mean endless power."

"You don't _know_ that I did," she said stubbornly.

"Do I not? I've created a society that deliberately puts new vampires in a precarious position. The curse itself plays a part, driving those who are without a mark to search until they find one. I've seen vampires rip themselves apart, trying to balance their _need_ with their oaths." His dimples cut deep, seemingly delighted with the knowledge of what he'd done, and her stomach twisted. "You didn't need information on how to gain a mark, sweetheart, because you _have_ one. You've always had one. And it has been some time, since I've seen one of you."

Caroline knew her face showed her unease, but this sudden change in his demeanor left her reeling. The threatening hybrid from moments before had been replaced by an amused creature who watched her with covetous eyes. Bewildered, she shifted and was reminded of the chains as they dragged along the floor.

"One of me?"

"Someone's soulmate," Klaus murmured, stroking the line of her chin with careful fingers. "The perfect bait."

"There are no such things as soulmates," Caroline said shakily, flinching away from his touch. Klaus laughed, the sound bouncing through her apartment, the corners of his eyes crinkling with this amusement.

"They are rare," he agreed. "But I would hardly call them impossible. We _are_ the nightmares that walk the shadows sweetheart. But I find it intriguing, that you've nearly dessicated yourself, but _not_ for whom your mark belongs too. Have you not found your other half yet? I confess, it's far more interesting to torture you together."

His smile widened further, at the way she went still, breath turning shallow. "It's nothing personal, sweetheart.

"It _seems_ personal," she croaked, tongue snaking across her tongue.

"I suppose it would seem that way," Klaus said thoughtfully. "It will of course depend on who fate has decided you belong to. A bit disappointing, that I will have to kill you, when I've found you so very fascinating. Intelligence like yours should be rewarded, once it belongs to the right hands. But once given, a soulmate mark can only be broken by death; I've experimented extensively."

Her lips trembled, at the way he casually referenced killing. The torture he alluded to with a quirk of his mouth. "Why?"

"Why?" He repeated, reaching to tug slowly at one of her bloody curls. "Because five hundred years ago, a witch broke the laws of magic and cursed me with a soulmate. For five centuries, my wolf has longed for something that may never exist. Why should I let others enjoy what I cannot have?"

She jerked her head, uncaring about the pull of her hair. "You're a monster."

He shrugged. "I am a great many things, Caroline, and very little would be considered redeemable by anyone. But I too, am marked. Shall I describe it to you? You won't live long enough to use it against me. It's fairly simple, just three lines. A triangle."

Caroline's lungs seized. Gaze dropping from his face, her eyes landed on the bare skin of his left wrist. _Nothing_. It was _impossible_.

"Ah, I do not wear my vulnerability on my wrist. Not the way most vampires do, for the curse originates from me. Instead, I'm marked where the last traveler witch scoured my back with her nails as she died under my hands; blood gurgling in her throat as she drowned. If I'd known then what I know now, her death would have lasted _far_ longer. But I do have her legacy. Tell me who you are protecting, why someone would take the time to torture you so elegantly, and I will make your death quick."

It felt as if her lungs had turned to blocks of ice. Klaus must have seen her terror, because the shift in his smile rattled her bones. Dimples and sin, his clothes and scruff streaked with her blood, he terrified her. He couldn't… he _couldn't_ wear her mark.

The monster in her veins _stretched_.

Klaus' gaze shifted, as if he sensed the change, to study her face. "Last chance, sweetheart. Or shall I just peel away your iron bindings? The witch was quite sloppy. The spell was anchored to the ceiling instead of the chains."

"Please don't do this," Caroline rasped.

His brow arched. "Apologies, sweetheart, but not all endings are happy."

The chains fell away from her wrists with two quick tugs, and the stark lines of the triangle were visible even through rust of her dried blood. She tried to turn her wrist, to move it away from his sight, but his fingers clenched around her forearm, nails cutting into her skin just below the black lines. Her bones creaked, and she bit her lip bloody, to stifle the sound of hurt in her throat. Her gaze darted to his face without her permission, and her eyes bled black, fangs dropping at the expression she found waiting for her.

The pit she'd glimpsed before was nothing in comparison to the endless darkness that sat behind his gaze now. Threaded through the black ice, was a feral, wild claiming that sent shocks up her arm, as his thumb moved across her tattoo. The hand that had lingered near her curls shifted to her chin, his grip biting and possessive.

The monster in her veins hissed, and Klaus smiled. A terrible, bladed smile, double fangs on display as his grip tightened. Before she could draw in a breath, his hand jerked and her world went dark.

* * *

_**Please Comment** _


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Smut, Blood Sharing, References of Torture.

Caroline woke with a stiff neck, a thirsty monster, and a temper that was only slightly dampened by fear. The hotel room was lovely, there was an outfit folded on a chair next to the bed, and everything inside her shook.

She wore Klaus Mikaelson's oath mark.

Her hand pressed to her trembling lips, she breathed carefully. There had been something terrible in his gaze, ruthless and so _old_ , before Klaus had broken her neck. The taunting, falsely apologetic words about soulmates and torture left her reeling, because she'd seen something wild there, too. But it'd been mingled with disbelief and such ruthless calculation.

Instead of dealing with it, Caroline tried to drown herself in the shower. She'd hoped washing the dried blood from her skin and hair would help her think. It didn't work, but at least she smelled like generic soap instead of torture and Klaus.

Someone had stocked the bathroom with a collection of products, some she recognized, others she didn't. Caroline fingered a tub of mascara, and then put it back down. She wasn't in the mood for girlish enjoyment. Not with her monster crawling under her skin, hungry and on edge; needy for things that left her cheeks hot from more than just steam.

She twisted her hair into a quick bun, ignored her bare face. Whatever this was, whatever insanity had matched her to Klaus, she wouldn't be a victim of it. Sixty years of vampirism had taught her that vampire politics were brutal, and no politics were more lethal than the Originals'.

Klaus had more than proven that earlier.

Yet, he thought her clever. He'd fed her his blood, snapped her neck and tucked her into bed after his series of threats and offers of torture. Caroline understood why he'd given her blood; it was difficult to gloat to a dessicated audience. Klaus did seem to enjoy a show, boasting of his perceived brilliance.

She bit her lip at how all that had disappeared once he'd seen her mark. The thought of life bound to him left her queasy. Yet…

Her gums _ached_ for another taste. Even now, she clearly felt the tips of her fangs; felt the shift of her veins just beneath her skin. The monster she'd learned to accept over the past six decades _wanted_ Klaus Mikaelson fiercely, and it made no goddamn sense. Soulmates were _fairy tales_. Fairy tales weren't supposed to be blood and fangs, nightmares that touched her with careful fingertips while discussing torture.

Bonnie had said a soulmate spell would go _badly_. Her witch friend had spent more time studying her tatoo than Caroline had, until Bon Bon had figured out a way to use a touch of makeup and a bit of magic to hide her mark. Bonnie would have _said_ something, if there was more to the spell than what they'd suspected.

Wouldn't she have?

What did it mean, if Bonnie _hadn't_? Caroline wrapped her arms around her waist, brows bunching together. For years, she'd willfully ignored her mark and the consequences that would come from it. In hindsight, it might not have been the smartest decision, but with Bonnie human, she'd done the best she could. She'd left her parents behind, she'd learned to accept her monster, and she'd survived.

Lowering her arms, she traced the triangle with unsteady fingertips. What did this mean to her? Could she offer Klaus Mikaelson her loyalty?Would it be enough? Did she have a choice? She'd seen how easy it was to abuse the fidelity oath, had seen vampires break when they could no longer bend. Was she really Klaus' soulmate and how did that change their dynamics?

Would he be loyal to _her_?

Caroline ran her fingers through her hair, troubled by the kick in her pulse at the thought. What would it mean, if Klaus would show her the same loyalty that she was capable of giving him? Unfortunately, she wasn't going to get answers hiding in the bathroom. Whatever her future, Caroline was determined to be an active participant. Which meant facing Klaus and getting answers.

"Hungry, sweetheart?" Klaus' voice cut through the air almost as soon as her door opened. As if he'd been waiting on her. The scent of blood was prominent in the hallway, and her mouth watered. Swallowing hard, she turned towards his voice just as he stepped out of what she guessed was a sitting area.

He'd clearly showered, his curls still damp, and wearing a pair of dark jeans, a thin henley. Something about his bare feet left her throat dry. The monster who'd smiled at her pain, who'd generously offered more was tucked back into his skin; and instead, the charming vampire Abby had referenced was on full display.

Dimples and charm, Klaus watched her with an intensity which, while not murderous, still left her skin prickling. He seemed perfectly at ease, a predator in its lair. She _refused_ to be prey.

"You snapped my neck."

He shrugged. "A temporary expedience."

Her mouth dropped, lips parting as she sucked in a breath in surprise. " _Seriously_?"

Klaus arched one brow, unperturbed by her ire. "You woke unharmed; in far better condition than when you were awake, I'd say."

"Yeah," Caroline said icily. "Lucky me. Don't do it again."

His head tilted as he studied her, brows bunching slightly. "Brave little thing. Tell me, Caroline, do you imagine that I take orders, love?"

Her stomach jumped, because the hint of what crawled under his skin unnerved her. Compressing her lips, she squared her shoulders. "Why am I here?"

"Because you belong to me."

The hairs lifted on the back of her neck at the glitter behind his gaze. Swallowing, because she refused to bend in front of this monster, she lifted her chin. "No, I _don't_."

"Denial doesn't suit you. You wear my mark; you burn beneath my skin." His lips curled, smile razor sharp. "Come, sit. Your color isn't quite right and we've much to discuss."

Caroline stared at his back as he turned away, uneasy at the dichotomy of his temper and the voiced concern. She considered returning to her room, but she needed blood _._ If she was going to survive this conversation, whatever _this_ was, she'd need her strength. Lip caught tightly between her teeth, she followed Klaus.

There were two girls, sitting delicately on the edge of the couch. Both were well dressed, but only one remained rosy cheeked. The blood Caroline smelled was clearly from Klaus' earlier meal. He'd moved to stand by a low table, and was pouring a tumblr of what looked like bourbon.

"Take your fill," Klaus said without looking at her. "They'll not be missed."

She rolled her eyes as she sat next to the girl who looked untouched. Caroline had no use for dramatics and games, and she was too hungry to care if he watched. Picking up an offered wrist, Caroline bit down and drank until the worst of her hunger eased. From there, it was easy enough to cut her tongue on a fang, to lick the girl's wound until it closed. Pulling back, Caroline breathed slowly, until the high eased.

"Such a neat eater," Klaus murmured softly waved the the girls out. His eyes were gold-flecked, pupils wide as he studied her vampire face. "Are you always so restrained, Caroline?"

She shivered, at the hunger in his voice. The way he watched her, his predator just a hint in his gaze. It was on the tip of her tongue to admit she hadn't always been neat. It had taken years to learn how to tuck her monster into her secret corners, to feed both the vampire and the girl.

"What do you want?" Caroline redirected instead. His gaze narrowed briefly, and she had the feeling that they weren't finished with that particular topic.

"What do I want? Many, many things, particularly in regards to you." Klaus' gaze dipped to her wrist, and his mouth tightened. His voice lowered, edge lethal when he spoke again. "But to begin? I want to know how you avoided every layer of detection I've spent centuries perfecting. Your sire should've dropped you at my feet out of greed, if nothing else. Yet, not only did you escape detection, you hid from me, even with my hands on your skin. I want to know _how_ and I want to know _why_."

"Why wouldn't I hide it?" Caroline snapped, nerves strung tight at his tone. Pushing to her feet, she glared right back at him. "What good could I possibly expect to come from _this_?"

"Tell me, Caroline, what horrors do you imagine my mark signifies?" Klaus asked, gaze narrowing.

"I didn't know this was yours," she said firmly, fingers twitching. "What do I imagine? I don't have to _imagine_ anything. What did you call me? Perfect bait?"

"You're as safe with me as any creature can be," he said calmly, eyes studying her unflinchingly. As if she should _know_ this. "I did not derive any pleasure from seeing you suffer, sweetheart."

"But yet, you did nothing, until you thought you'd have something to gain."

"Now, that isn't entirely true. I cut you down, gave you blood, even as you refused to acknowledge my most generous offers. Did you expect me to be a selfless creature? Rarely am I afflicted with that particular virtue," Klaus said, amusement rich in his tone. "Yet, here you are, alive and well, despite the torture you endured."

She didn't appreciate the touch of condescension in his tone. "Which has little to do with _me_ and everything to do with the triangle on my wrist; this stupid soulmate idea. You expected, what, my thankfulness? You saved me because you believe in of a quirk of fate, nothing more."

"Ah," he drawled, smiling at her glower. "But that is not quite the case, sweetheart."

Wary, she watched as he moved to the second couch and sat, sprawling across the space and completely at ease. But his gaze burned her, as it roamed her face, lingering on her eyes as her monster pushed along her skin. Caroline felt hunted, but instead of wanting to claw her way out of the room, her blood heated. Klaus didn't speak until she sat as well, her hands curling into fists.

Tilting his head, he arched a brow and swirled his drink. "What do you know of soulmates, love?"

"They aren't supposed to be real."

"If only that were true," he mused. "The spell itself is quite imaginative, but not nearly as clever as the casters hoped."

Caroline licked her lips. "I don't understand."

"A mere vampire, love, simply feels a pull, a tug of restlessness that they cannot explain. I've heard stories of how soulmates find each other; in fact, I've greatly encouraged the loosening of tongues, by whatever means necessary. But a wolf, Caroline, a wolf craves that bond. I've wondered, did the witches who cursed me imagine the clawing need of my wolf would inevitably lead to a descent into madness? If so, they overestimated their spell's capabilities; still, the need _is_ there and it lingers. Yet, a mere baby vampire has denied its existence for sixty years."

"You're making assumptions."

"Hardly," Klaus dismissed with a motion of his hand. "Your face is rather expressive, sweetheart, and I've a bit of experience looking for certain cues. I can smell your arousal, can almost taste it on my tongue, even as your eyes spit at me. You're hardly as unaffected as you'd have me believe. The magic that ties us will not be satisfied by distance, Caroline."

Caroline compressed her lips and glanced away. It would be easy, to relax into the softness of the couch, let the environment he'd painstaking built soothe her rattled nerves. But this was a false security; the shifting of her vampire a sign of how close Klaus' beast was to the surface.

It galled her, that he wasn't wrong. She wanted to drag her nails along his skin until he bled, lick up his blood in slow strokes of her mouth; to see if his charming tongue was as talented as his eyes promised. Soulmates.

"Do you think I'm a fool?" She asked after a moment. Her gaze returned to his, and she set her jaw against the pull of him. "You show up at my apartment, you save me, and now what? I should just accept your words at face value? _You_ who torture people for circumstances that are beyond their control? I think you summed it up nicely yourself. Until you knew I was marked, I was _inconsequential_. I'd prefer to stay that way."

"A fool?" Klaus repeated, something volatile crawling behind his eyes. "No. You're misinformed, but that's to be expected. I've kept the entire supernatural world very deliberately deluded on this subject, and I've killed anyone who knew better. As for you being supposedly inconsequential, I lied."

Caroline blinked stupidly as he sat his glass down and stood. "You lied?"

"Hmmm," Klaus said as he shrugged. "I find the truth to be fairly fluid, as it suits my purpose."

"And how did lying to me suit your _purpose_?"

He moved suddenly, to crouch in front of her, lips curling upwards. Caroline nearly flinched as he studied her, as his fingertips skimmed the delicate skin of her wrist. The heat, the smell of him this close, teased along her senses. "Sixty years, you've hidden from me, when I've known of your possible existence. Our society is not a large one, and I've ears and eyes in every corner. I have never allowed myself a weakness, and a soulmate can be little else. But here you are, and I find myself loathe to finish what your tormentors started. You are mine."

"You want me to believe you'd have, what? Rescued me without the dramatics, without the threats, had you merely known who I supposedly am to you?" Caroline stared at him in disbelief. "I don't believe you."

His smile cut against her. "I went to your apartment because I was intrigued, pulled by the steel of your monster. I've dismissed, ruined, beauty that surpasses even yours, love. Was the draw from the unacknowledged mark you wear on your skin? A possibility. That doesn't take away my admiration of the steel you showed so near death; your refusal to cower. I'd already made the choice to pursue you, love, and rarely am I swayed from my decisions."

She stared at him, brows bunching. "You saw me _once_. For a handful of moments. Why should I believe you?"

"What do you perceive I've to gain from such a falsehood?" Klaus queried, brows arching. "Would it ease your distrust, Caroline, to see my mark?"

Something about his tone, the curling edges of his smile, told her it was a trap. She could feel it in her bones, in the grinding of the monster in her veins. She wasn't a coward, but her mouth ran dry as he watched her with dimples bracketing that smile. Lashes lowering to hide his gaze, Klaus reached for the back of his shirt, pulling it off in one easy motion.

She was left staring at the smooth plains and ridges of him, a splash of color on his shoulder. The tempting length of his torso shifted, and she blinked stupidly at the knots of his spine, the line of his shoulders. And there, against his back, were the same three lines that sat so darkly against her skin.

She hadn't even realized she reached for the tattoo until she paused, fingertips hovering above the heat of his back.

"You can touch, sweetheart," Klaus murmured, voice rough. "I don't mind."

His skin sparked against hers. Muscle shifting beneath her fingertips as he shivered, Caroline carefully traced those three damning lines. Klaus was quite warm, and heat radiated up her arm, leaving her aching for more. Her monster lunged to the surface, so utterly _hungry_ for him that her nails reflexively dug into his skin.

Klaus left out a low noise of pleasure. His voice was rough with arousal when he spoke, a hint of his blood threading between them. "It's an interesting feeling, isn't it, Caroline?"

She had to work moisture into her mouth, before she could answer. "What is?"

"Seeing yourself echoed in someone else. The sudden, violent possession of it." He turned, and her nails dragged along his back, leaving a trail of welts that healed almost immediately. His words sent something she couldn't describe arching through her veins, stomach tight, and her vampire pricked at her gums, and crawled into her eyes.

"Possession isn't loyalty," she rasped.

Klaus' gaze was heavy lidded as he watched her from beneath his lashes. "I've felt a weak echo of it before, seeing my oath mark on the flesh of those who swore their fidelity. It leaves me wanting to dig into your bones. To crawl along your flesh, until you carry me against every part of you."

She swiped her tongue across dry lips, at the images he painted with the husky tone of his voice. His eyes burned, and her monster coveted that need. Her voice shook, when she spoke. "I'm not _yours_."

It wasn't a lie, but it didn't feel exactly like the truth anymore, either. Her words were almost wrong against her tongue. The _not yet_ hung between them. She wasn't his, not exactly, but she wanted _him_ as _hers_ ; her breath caught, at the surge of arousal at the thought.

 _Hers_.

Klaus' smile left her fingers trembling, but not from fear. Left her breath hitching in her throat. Bladed and a touch feral, it was _such_ a smile.

"No?"

On her next inhale, he surged up, mouth sliding across hers. Her hands clutched at his shoulders in surprise, lips parting for that first questioning brush of his tongue, and her brain blanked. One long fingered hand ruined her messy bun, delving through damp waves to cradle her skull, his other palm sliding under her shirt to the base of her spine.

But his _mouth_. It plundered with hot, deft flicks of tongue, the edge of blunt teeth; the slickness of his blood as he teased her fangs. With each lave, each shuddering breath, he pulled her closer. Her hands threaded through his hair, hips rocking into his lap until her thighs bracketed his waist. When Klaus lifted his head, his gaze was dark with greed, and he chased the taste of her on his lips with his tongue.

"So you can kiss," Caroline managed after her breathing slowed. She was almost completely off the couch, and Klaus was all warm muscle and bare skin between her thighs. Aroused, flesh prickling everywhere they touched, he were fingers still tangled in his hair. "That doesn't prove anything."

Klaus' head bent and scraped his teeth along the hollow of her throat. Caroline jolted, hips rocking across the line of his erection. She tasted blood, trying to muffle her moan.

"Take off your shirt." The roughness of his voice sent another rush of arousal through her veins. His fingers slipped up several knots of her spine, and she was _oh so_ tempted. Her breasts ached at the thought of his hands, the heat of his mouth, and Caroline swallowed hard. His voice turned coaxing, fingertips roaming, when he spoke again. "Caroline, take off your shirt."

She lowered her gaze to his mouth and took a deep breath; shivering, at how she could almost taste his arousal. "You broke my neck."

Unexpectedly, Klaus smiled, dimples cutting deep. "Going to hold that against me?"

"I _like_ grudges."

His thumb dragged behind her ear, and Caroline's nails bit into his scalp. His voice lowered to an intimate purr, eyes dark, as Klaus ran his tongue along his upper lip. "So do I. Perhaps I can convince you to relinquish your temper?"

"Just like that?" She cursed her breathlessness, the way her fingers tightened in his hair. "I should just let you seduce me? Why should I, when I don't trust you?"

Klaus laughed low in his throat, gaze hot along her face as he drank in her expression. "Why not? I can smell your arousal, hear your frantic heartbeat. Why not let me give you the release you want so badly? Let you mark me with your delectable scent; let me have you, with teeth in return."

She was aroused and wet; it would be so easy to roll her hips forward, let him replace the horror of a few hours ago with something far more pleasant. It'd been ages since she'd had _good_ sex, and the vampire under her skin clamored for what he was offering. His gaze lowered, the hand at her neck skimming down her throat to ghost over the curve of her breast.

Just a hint of his thumb, across her cloth covered nipple.

It was difficult to form a coherent thought, and she sucked in a desperate breath. "Why do I want you?"

"Vampires, sweetheart; why wouldn't you want me?"

She dug her nails into his skin until she scented fresh blood. His hips rocked against her, lashes fluttering; she gasped at the rough slide of his cock. Caroline swallowed heavily, in an attempt to get the words out.

"I'm not having sex with you unless you explain why my vampire wants you. Hours ago you were contemplating how I'd die. I'm _not_ that forgiving."

He grinned, hand shifting to cup her breast while he continued to watch her from beneath his lashes. "What you're feeling, Caroline, is what makes soulmates so dangerous. It should settle, over time, this ache, but we will never escape it completely."

She believed him; the starkness of his words, the flex of his fingers against her skin. Merely _seeing_ his tattoo had sparked something violent in her veins, and her control was holding by a thread. Caroline's skin was too hot, more _needy_ than she'd been since she'd first changed.

"You can try to run, if you'd like," Klaus murmured. "I do so enjoy the chase. But why run, when I can spend the afternoon sating your hunger instead? Let me touch you."

She shivered at the silky offer. Her body was humming, monster greedy, and did she care if it was a mistake? She was smart; she'd survive this. She wanted this bite of pleasure to offset the possible horror that laid before her. Her earlier musings snuck through the haze of her thoughts.

What if Klaus could be loyal to her?

Did they start here? In the need of their monsters, and the draw between them of magic she didn't understand? She could perceive no vulnerability from him… unless he'd spoken more truths earlier than he wished her to acknowledge. Perfect bait. For _him_?

Klaus hadn't moved. He watched her with eyes dark with desire, and it was his stillness, the hunting patience that decided her. He wanted her, the hard edge of his cock proof of that, but he was waiting for her choice.

Monstrous Klaus Mikaelson. Letting the choice be hers. Not taking, offering.

Caroline kissed him; slipped her tongue between his lips for a taste of that charming, deceitful tongue. Klaus gave her what she wanted, met the slick of her tongue with his. The hand at her breasts insistently feathered across her nipple, until it was a hard point behind her bra. The fingers along her spine dipped to palm her ass, flexing impatiently. She pulled back to suck in a breath, and Klaus didn't ask her to remove her shirt a third time. Instead, he fisted his hand in the collar of her t-shirt, and ripped it down the middle.

"Really?" She gasped, chin lowering to glower at him. His eyes were fixated on her breasts, and he shrugged.

"I _did_ ask, love."

He didn't rip her bra. Just tugged the soft cups down, until he could wrap his lips around the hard point of her nipple. Spine arching, Caroline dragged her nails sharply down his neck, to clutch at his shoulders. It mattered less, when he insinuated his hand into her pants, tugging sharply to bare the lower half of her body. His hand was hot along the back of her thigh, helping her move against him as his mouth switched breasts. His palm left her aching breasts and skimmed down the quivering line of her abdomen to brush tantalizingly between her thighs.

"Take your pants _off_ ," she demanded, wanting to feel the heat of his skin. His lips curled, fingers skimming along the back of her thigh.

"You _do_ enjoy giving orders," Klaus drawled. She narrowed her eyes as his muscles shifted, the sudden devilment bleeding his gaze yellow. Instead of following her demands, his fingertips pressed along her slit, brushing teasing caresses across her clit that built the ache low in her belly, until her thighs were slick.

"Klaus!" She let her head tilt back as his tongue licked up her carotid artery. "Don't be _mean_."

His dimples creased against her skin before he ducked down and sucked her breast back into his mouth; his arousal slick fingers shifting to work at the button of his jeans. His seams popped as he yanked his pants forcefully down. Caroline fisted her hands in his tangle of necklaces, and shuddered as fangs dragged across her nipple.

The muscles under her hands bunched and he rose, so that her spine pressed against the back of the couch and he could brace his arm on the wall. Spreading her thighs, he sheathed himself with one rough thrust. Caroline gasped, shuddering around the thickness of his cock, legs curling tightly around his lean hips. Klaus braced his weight on his forearms, knees pressing deeply into the cushions.

"Alright?" Klaus murmured, voice a rough rasp against her ear. She nodded frantically, clenching down and he groaned, low and needy. He withdrew and then slowly pushed back in. She dug her nails in, thighs tightening in encouragement and she whined in frustration when he kept his pace.

"I need you to _move_ ," Caroline ground out, as his next thrust only increased the ache inside her, offering no relief. Klaus made a darkly amused sound in his throat, and moved his hand to toy with one of her nipples. She shuddered, as he shifted back to look at her, the gold ring bright against the black of his pupil.

"I know need, Caroline, because it's gouged my bones for five centuries." Klaus watched her face, as his hips snapped unexpectedly rough, fingers pinching her nipple. She jolted, muscles quivering, and he smiled; monster sharp, greedy and wanting. "Shall I show it to you?"

He cupped the back of her neck and set a pace that had the couch digging into the wall. Gasping, sweat clinging to their skin, Caroline met each thrust until she rode the edge of her orgasm. Breath a sob in her throat, fingers clawing at the muscle of Klaus' back, the unexpected feel of his fangs piercing her throat sent her careening.

Instead of finishing with her, Klaus twisted them so that his next thrust drove her into the cushions. Flat on her back, blood slick against her throat and sliding down her skin, she gasped as he lifted her hips and _moved_ ; couch jolting along the floor. The sudden shift in angle lit up along her nerves as each stroke of his cock brushed across her clit. Klaus' eyes were glowing wolf-gold, lips and chin stained red.

His smile was feral, lashes fluttering as her muscles gripped him tightly. "I need you to come again. To feel you _again_."

His kiss was bruising; mouth quickly replaced by the slightly bitter taste of exertion as he shoved his wrist between her teeth. Her fangs descended, cutting through the thin skin before she'd consciously thought to bite him. His blood was _good_ , the feel of his cock amazing, and she came after the first messy mouthful, blood spilling down her chin. Caroline's vision wavered as Klaus cursed in her ear, shuddering as he orgasmed.

They panted heavily for several moments, before Klaus lifted his head. Hair wild, his gaze tracked down the bright red against her skin. Caroline gasped, as his cock twitched inside her.

" _Seriously_?"

Klaus bent, licked a wet path through their combined blood, a wild noise of pleasure vibrating between them. His lips left her skin for a brief moment, hand sliding along her ribs. He snapped the band of her bra, freeing her breasts, tongue running across his lips as he made a noise of pure greed.

"You're right, love. We should move to the bed." Another hot lave of his tongue across the curve of her breast, and the slightest press of teeth. "I'm most curious, to see what will make you beg."

* * *

Klaus studied the skyline from the room he'd turned into his temporary office. Chicago had settled into night, the last streaks of the sun visible in wild colors through the skyline. A beautiful city, filled with nostalgia. He wondered what Caroline thought of Chicago, what she'd seen of its underbelly.

"How much longer do you plan on staying, Nik? Please tell me Gloria's charms haven't snared you _again_."

"I've no intention of staying in Chicago any longer than necessary, Rebekah," Klaus said into his phone, wondering how much longer he'd need to deal with his sister's complaining.

He had company arriving soon. An appointment made before finding Caroline. He'd been tempted to reschedule, but the witch had been intriguing. Klaus saw no reason not to sate his curiosity before returning to far more pleasurable activities.

Rebekah made a disapproving noise over the line. "I do not understand why you can't just leave Marcel to deal with the situation. Nothing interesting can be occurring if Kol has deserted you."

"Marcel will be keeping an eye on Kol, since our brother has decided to remind the witches of his presence," he sighed impatiently. "You cannot possibly be bored with Milan already; I thought your little pet was with you."

"Must you comment on what you know nothing about? Enzo's friend called in a favor and I've offered to peel their bones if anything happens to him, but he just laughed, that ass." Rebekah sulked. "It's been months since anything really interesting happened, Nik. Elijah is _boring_ me. He's wooing a witch and he won't let me eat her. I'm _bored_."

"I'll make no promises, Bekah," Klaus said, gaze flickering to the door he'd closed earlier. Delectable, stubborn Caroline. She was still sprawled across his sheets, a tangle of golden curls and pale skin. He'd already sketched her, mused on the exact shades he'd need to mix to capture the colors of her hair.

He hoped to conclude this bit of witch business before she woke. Caroline had bit of age on her, but was still so young. If he was particularly lucky, he'd get the chance to wake her with his tongue.

Chicago was far more interesting than it had been even two days ago. Even so, Klaus found himself wondering if Caroline had traveled, if she'd like too. He'd no intention of letting her out of his sight; not even his siblings had turned him so possessive. Part of that was the draw of the soulmate magic, but he wasn't one to lie to himself unnecessarily.

He _was_ a covetous creature.

Lovely Caroline, with her expressive face and defiant eyes. He ran his tongue along his lips, mouth curving as he thought about how he'd spent his afternoon. He hadn't bothered to shower her from his skin; their mingled arousal and blood lingered as a reminder of her possessiveness.

And there was still the matter of Caroline's torturers to deal with. Klaus was certain that would play out, regardless of Caroline's wishes in the matter. If she thought he hadn't noted her avoidance of the subject, she'd be disappointed.

Klaus had every intention of discovering the who and the why of her torture.

Still, it really was only a matter of time before whatever scheme she'd found herself involved in rose to the surface. He was quite skilled at applying the pressure necessary to bring a city to a boiling point. He found it amusing, to watch the guilty devour each other in a doomed attempt to save themselves.

Whomever had tortured Caroline had been as unaware of her mark as he'd been. Klaus had no doubt he'd have never found her alone, otherwise. Her torturers had clearly decided to let the sun break her, and Caroline had chosen dedication instead. It stroked his curiosity.

What did his soulmate wish to protect so fiercely? How much effort would it take to remove this unknown from the picture? He would not share her devotion.

"Are you even listening to me, Nik?" Rebekah's voice snapped down the line and he sighed.

When Klaus spoke, impatience sharpened his tone. "Of course, Rebekah. I've had a few things of interest crop up here. I'll potentially be a few weeks more."

"What do _you_ consider interesting?"

"A witch has requested a meeting," he murmured, the truth, but not his true reasoning.

"A witch?" Rebekah repeated incredulously. "She understands that's more Kol's area of interest?"

"Abigail Bennett, had the most intriguing story," he said thoughtfully. "We'll see if it pans out. She's apparently missing a few ingredients."

"What does she want?"

"To destroy the other side."

There was a long silence as she absorbed his words. Klaus knew Rebekah would quickly grasp the implications of such an act. They might've broken Klaus' curse, Mikael reduced to ash and dust; scattered across oceans. But Esther had cropped up over the years. To destroy the gateway into the world for their numerous enemies whom always lingered on the edge of possibility...

There were obvious drawbacks, and those needed to be considered. But the Bennett witch had his attention. He was _intrigued_.

"You will let me know if anything of interest occurs?"

"Of course."

Rebekah muttered rudely under her breath at his tone. "Ass."

He hung up, lips curling at Rebekah's growl of annoyance. She'd likely be intrigued by the possibility of breaking the otherside, but Rebekah found no joy in discussing magic and considered research menial work. She'd likely be furious, when she discovered the true reason behind his avoidance. It hardly mattered. He wasn't quite ready for his siblings to join him. Not yet. Not when they'd likely create more havoc than necessary.

He wasn't in the mood to placate their dramatics. Not when Caroline was turning out to be far more intriguing than he could've imagined. Stubborn and determined, her willingness to tangle with him on and off his sheets was alluring. For such a young vampire, she'd shown a curious amount of steel, a will he admired. He'd seen a hint of it at the bar, had seen it on full display as she bled in front of him. But when she melted, when he coaxed her monster out to play…

Klaus licked his lips, at the memory. No, he wasn't willing to share with his siblings, just yet. Not until he'd smoothed those rough edges of Caroline's suspicion into something a little more welcoming. The sex may have been a release, but he was under no illusions that she trusted him. For all that her monster had dug in with teeth and claw, he was quite certain she'd try to slip away, if he gave her the chance.

_Possession isn't loyalty._

It had been the most intriguing of statements. Caroline had immediately gone to _loyalty_ instead any number of other possibilities. He assumed part of that was due to the loyalty curse as she'd know it, the assumptions that she'd lived with for decades. But his little vampire had already shown him a glimpse of the depths of her loyalty, how far she'd go to protect what was hers.

Caroline had been willing to die on those chains. Klaus found it both admirable and infuriating. His carefully aligned mental chessboard had been scattered, and by a vampire not yet a century old.

He would not allow a repeat of this afternoon.

Klaus drummed his fingers along his thigh as he plotted. His enemies would think her an easy mark. They would discover just how ruthless he could be, if they choose to act upon those assumptions. He was already compiling a mental list of those who would need to be watched. Those he'd use as a brutal example.

His lips curved. Pretty little Caroline had no idea, of the lengths he would go to to keep her. Of the depth of the possessiveness that ran beneath his skin. But like all things, it was just a matter of time before she learned the truth of the nightmares that ran through his veins.

That ran through hers.

* * *

**_ Please Comment _ **


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Smut, Torture, Gore, Mind Games

So this is the last chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to comment and offer encouragement, because this story has been so intense to write! I greatly appreciated everyone.

Warnings: Smut, Torture, Gore, Mind Games

* * *

Caroline was a little relieved, when she woke up alone. Pressing her face into the pillow she'd rolled into, she tried to get her bearings. The problem was her brain just wasn't cooperating.

Her cheeks ran hot, and it wasn't because she was shy in bed. God, multiple orgasms and blood sharing would leave any girl flustered. But it really how she'd fallen asleep against warm skin, with fingertips trailing through her hair, tracing the dips in her spine. The man who allegedly made people eat their own organs was into post-coital cuddling.

She blew out a breath, and tried to push away the heat of those thoughts. Even if the scent of Klaus was a definite turn on, the last thing she needed was to leave his room aroused. But God, Caroline wanted to roll in their combined scents just a little longer, because Klaus wasn't the only one who was possessive.

Rolling over, Caroline pressed her face into a pillow. She knew she was territorial, knew she dug in too deeply with grasping, greedy fingers. Bonnie had pushed so hard against Caroline's instinctive need to keep, to protect, until Caroline learned to loosen that grip.

Now, _this_. For the first time since she'd woken thirsty and with fangs, the itch she'd never been able to explain, had denied feeling to Klaus, was gone. The need Klaus claimed he'd spent _five hundred years_ feeling under his skin. She wasn't content, not with so much still so undecided, but she was…

She wanted to say hopeful.

Caroline sat up determinedly, and ran her fingers through the remains of her curls; wincing as her fingers caught. Tugging her knuckles free, she froze at the sight of the dried blood under her nails, staining her cuticles. A flush worked up her throat, and her monster stretched against her skin; the temptation to lick the remains of Klaus from her fingertips strong. It wasn't from a need for blood, that was as sated as the rest of her.

She just wanted another taste.

Her fingers curled tightly into her palms. Klaus was delicious when she'd been starving and half-dessicated. With his cock inside her, his teeth in her throat, his blood was better than ambrosia. Caroline shoved her hair out of her face with a curse, breasts and belly tightening with a new rush of arousal.

Time to get dressed. Lounging around only increased the chances of Klaus returning with her aroused and naked in his bed. It wasn't that she was averse to the idea of more sex, but her thoughts and emotions were so tangled, she didn't know exactly how to handle them.

With a soft sigh, she slipped out of bed and glanced around, looking for anything she could pull on. It only took a moment to liberate a long sleeved tee from Klaus' closet, but pants took a bit more work. Klaus was slender, all lean strength, but there was no way the dark jeans or slacks would fit her. She ended up settling for a pair of soft boxers.

She snorted, amused, because he certainly hadn't been wearing those earlier.

Still, since the boxers kept her from wandering around bare-ass naked, she might not bring it up. Caroline bit her lip, as she realized the extent of that castaway thought. She planned on staying.

She wanted to stay. The girl and the monster. Eyebrows bunching, Caroline trailed her fingers down the clothes she'd pulled on. Her argument against having a soulmate had been proven moot. She'd had Klaus under her hands, beneath her teeth. Part of her wondered if such a connection could be fabricated, but what would be the reason? Klaus had deftly pointed out that particular argument, and honestly, there was no reason for such a falsehood.

She believed that Klaus was capable of great malice, that he'd _earned_ the stories Abby and her pet vampire had whispered while torturing her. She'd seen it, in the age of his eyes, the endless abyss that lingered in his gaze. But there was no purpose, in him lying about the connection between them.

Not after choosing to let her live.

Klaus could've killed her, could've dealt with this livewire between them a hundred different ways. But he'd given her choices, had manipulated her into taking ownership of what was between them. So what did it mean now that she believed him? Was there a grain of truth to everything else he'd claimed?

_You're as safe with me as any creature can be._

The hybrid who'd watched her dessicate was terrifying. The man who'd bent her over the couch, who'd teased her flesh with hands and tongue, who'd whispered the most sinful of promises in her ear with his cock buried inside her, was magnificent. But it was the way he'd tucked her against him, with skin slick and flushed against her own, that'd left her breathless. Caroline knew Klaus would never be considered a kind man, was even more certain that very few would even suggest he was capable of being gentle at all.

What did it mean, that he'd shown her glimpses of those depths? Frowning, she paced, and tried to organize her thoughts. She wanted Klaus, but she wanted Klaus as _hers_. Wasn't that how legends said soulmates worked? That you were meant for one person, that you were connected? What had Klaus told her, while he'd given her false apologies about needing to torture her? A soulmate mark could only be broken by death.

That his wolf had _longed_ for her.

So Klaus was invested, whether either of them liked it, but that hardly mattered at this point. What she had to decide, what she needed to _know_ to the depths of her bones was if she was willing to fight for him.

Could she? Would she? Caroline knew the depths of her heart, had been taught through the violence of her making and sixty years of protecting Bonnie how strong she could be. And it would take that iron, that stubborn strength that had clawed her and Bonnie out of the depths of their ruined twenties to tangle with Klaus.

Her loyalty wasn't blind. The darker parts of her heart wanted Klaus. Giving him a chance, letting him have a tiny bit of her her trust was a risk. But it was a risk she was going to take. A thousand years, and he watched her as a predator watched prey, as a man looked at a possession.

She wouldn't be either of those things. She _couldn't_ be if this was going to work. Caroline had to be accepted as equal, if not physically, then emotionally, because she would not allow this nightmare who was hers to break her.

Rubbing her forehead, Caroline wished desperately for something to clean, to reorganize while she chewed on this soulmate situation. Because the conversation she had to have with Klaus was not going to be an easy one.

Walking away wasn't the answer here and that terrified her. Not when there was no denying how she craved his loyalty in turn. She wanted to see how he thought, wanted to crawl into his bones just as surely as he'd claimed to want her.

To her relief, the sound of doors opening and shutting gave her a distraction. There was a murmur of voices, female, and then the deeper cadence she recognized as Klaus. Apparently, they had company. It wasn't a reprieve that would last, but it gave her a chance to take another shower, to figure out how to tangle with Klaus. Squaring her shoulders, Caroline took a deep breath.

He needed to know about Bonnie. Fingering the cuff of her borrowed shirt, Caroline swallowed hard. Klaus needed to know about Abby, her obsession with her daughter's bones that Caroline had hidden. Every sordid, painful detail of the night she was turned.

It'd been decades since she'd allowed herself to think about that night. The pain of Liz's rejection, the way they'd fled. Bonnie's initial terror. The broken, waif of a girl where there had once been a witch.

Caroline wanted Abby _dead_. And Klaus needed to know who was hunting her, because he was going to be pulled into whatever Abby's schemes were regardless of Caroline's wishes. She didn't like it, but she disliked him going into a situation blind even more.

But none of that was happening until Klaus' guests left. She might as well take the time to put some kind of plan together. Listening for any immediate clues to what was occurring outside her door, it seemed Klaus had shifted to a different part of the hotel suite. She couldn't hear anything, which probably meant magic.

She wrinkled her nose, having had her fill of witches for the _decade_.

Satisfied that she was alone, Caroline opened the door to head to her previous room for another shower, maybe room service. Tonight was a total French fry and cake kind of night. Klaus could afford her comfort food while she worked out her mental list.

Plan set, she ground to a halt as she nearly stumbled into a vampire rifling through the drawers of a small side table. Her heart leapt into her throat, body tensing as a familiar face looked up. For a moment she stared, frozen, at the vampire who'd tortured her.

Abby Bennett's lackey.

"You," the vampire breathed before lunging at Caroline. Instinct had Caroline scrambling to the side, dodging as the vampire blurred at her. Heart slamming into her throat, Caroline hissed as her monster came out. The other vampire turned, and instead of lunging at Caroline, she bent and broke a leg off the lamp table they'd knocked over.

"How did you get here? I'd rip out your heart, be done with you, except you've hidden those bones too well. But we don't need all of you to find them; your tongue will grow back."

All Caroline had to do was stall. There was no way Klaus hadn't heard the commotion and while she utterly despised the idea of someone fighting her battles, this vampire had several centuries on her. She didn't feel like having her ass handed to her twice.

"Abby will never touch Bonnie's remains," Caroline said firmly, eyes narrowed. "You've already tried torture and that didn't get you anywhere."

 _Where_ was Klaus?

The vampire smiled, with black eyes and fangs, and blurred. This time, Caroline wasn't fast enough and the table leg punched through her stomach, pinning her to the wall. Caroline gasped, shuddering, and Abby's lackey twisted it with a little smile.

"Oh, you'll talk. They always do."

"Go to hell," Caroline croaked, blood bubbling on her lips as she tried to breath through the pain.

"He won't hear your screaming," the vampire whispered into Caroline's ear, curling fingers digging into her stomach; dragging little trails through the blood. "A little trick of Abby's; she has the sage spelled to be odorless. I don't know how you've ended up in Klaus' sitting room and I don't care. Before I'm done with you, you'll tell me anything to make the pain stop."

The wood hurt, but it wasn't close to her heart, so Caroline lunged at her. Laughing, the vampire shoved her back and twisted the wrist she grabbed viciously. The loud snapping sound was followed by Caroline's scream.

"What organ would you like to see first? Your ovaries? Liver? I'm going to make you beg, and this time Abby won't be here to chastise me; she's so focused on her pathetic daughter's bones, but I like giving pain. Maybe we'll see what Klaus will carve you into, once he realizes you're between him and true immortality."

A door opened in the distance, just as her vision started to waver from the pain. Caroline shuddered out a gasp as the lackey was suddenly yanked upwards; Klaus holding her by her throat as she struggled fruitlessly in his grasp.

"Who are you, to touch what is mine?" Klaus demanded before he viciously twisted the vampire's neck until the spine popped. His expression was terrible, as he turned his head to look at her.

Hand pressing against her abdomen, Caroline sucked in a breath and coughed, body jolting painfully with each shudder. She groaned as Klaus crouched in front of her. His jaw was tight, eyes bleeding into gold, and a palpable rage simmered between them as his gaze dragged down her body. The pit behind his eyes left her breathing shallow; yet, his fingers were gentle, as he brushed hair away from her sweaty face.

"I need to pull the stake out, love, before you can heal." He didn't give her a chance for an affirmative, just swiftly pulled. The noise it made was sickening, a wet suction, but her gasp was interrupted by his wrist pressed firmly against her lips as she slid down the wall.

"We'll need to work on your ability to defend yourself, if you're going to insist on fighting vampires so much older than you." Klaus said in a soft voice that was so at odds with his expression, the tightness of his shoulders.

Caroline bit down with fangs instead of answering, each mouthful easing the worst of her hurts. It wasn't rational, how easily he soothed her adrenaline flushed body or how his blood slowed her hammering heartbeat. For a moment, she let herself absorb the easy strength of him, and pushed aside the tangle of emotions she couldn't put into words. Klaus had defended her, offered her his blood without demanding payment, and now watched her with eyes devoid of calculation.

He wanted her to know how to fight.

Klaus' fingers tugged carefully at the sleeve of her borrowed shirt, his lips curling at the edges. There was something unexpectedly intimate, being caught in his clothes, in the way something softer than rage streaked through his gaze. His lips parted, edges curling, but the the sound of footsteps interrupted him. He didn't speak until their abrupt stop, until Caroline unlatched her fangs.

"Ah, Ms. Bennett, you've chosen to join us. Please, be seated."

Caroline's head snapped up and she'd have lunged, if not for the hand that settled on her knee. Nails digging into the wrist she hadn't released, Klaus ran his thumb along her thigh in a distracting caress. Abby slowly sat, expression calculating. Caroline let go of Klaus, her blood high shifting into rage.

What business did Abby have with Klaus? Surely, Abby didn't believe she could outsmart Klaus and talk her way out of this? Unless...

Unless Abby thought she'd enough leverage to sway Klaus to her side. The fist in her chest took her by surprise, and she swallowed hard. Caroline had never been able to wiggle the all details of how exactly Bonnie had lost her magic. She knew that Bonnie had outmaneuvered her mother, but not how. There were consequences for Abby's actions and Caroline spitefully hoped to see all of them.

"I suggest you explain yourself," Klaus said, still facing Caroline, eyes narrowing as he watched her expressions. "Burning sage in my residence? Attacking a guest? Here I'd thought we were going to be civil."

"I've no interest in making you an enemy," Abby replied. Her gaze flickered to Caroline and something very much like hate darkened her eyes. "I don't know what the girl has told you, but it appears that timeline I spoke of is a moot point. My missing piece is right here."

Caroline's lips peeled away from her fangs, an angry hiss cutting through the air. The unexpected way Klaus' hand tightened on her knee shifted her gaze back to him, and she froze. Gold circled the blue of his iris, pupils wide.

"Been keeping secrets?" Klaus drawled, but there was nothing threatening towards _her_ in his tone. Instead, beneath temper and calculation, lingered what Caroline thought might've been jealousy. Carefully, so Abby couldn't see, she curled her fingers into the hem of his shirt. His jaw didn't soften, but something potent flickered behind his eyes. The secrets Caroline held, they were not Abby's, but she couldn't tell him that. Not with an audience.

"She's young, I'm sure she'll learn," Abby said disdainfully. "Tell me where my daughter's bones rest."

"No," Caroline replied, gaze holding Klaus'. Chin tilting, she met the deepening blue and wild sparks of growing gold. "I won't give them up."

Something wild bloomed behind his eyes. It was nearly feral, and her stomach flipped at the possession and jealousy he didn't bother masking this time. The hold on her knee didn't tighten, but she was suddenly, achingly aware of every place they touched, his breath against her skin.

Abby sighed, unaware of the byplay in front of her. "She's been frustratingly stubborn, and my tactics have unfortunately failed. Caroline has a surprising amount of tolerance for pain, in one so young. Perhaps you'll have more luck torturing what we need from her."

Caroline's breath caught, as she watched as Klaus realized Abby was responsible for how he'd found her earlier in the day. The sudden malevolence on Klaus' face was wrenching. Her nails dug into her palms as the abyss opened wide behind his eyes. He smiled, dimples creasing his cheeks. One fingertip lifted and traced down her chin, the touch gentle for all of his contained violence.

"Ah, but you see, I've never been fond of witches or games that are not my own," Klaus murmured, eyes dragging along Caroline's face. "Are you aware, Caroline, that witches cannot be compelled, even by me? I've met several over the centuries who've mistakenly believed it makes them superior. Nonsense, of course, but witches do enjoy their little fallacies."

The reasonable tone of his voice lifted the small hairs on her arms, the back of her neck, and Caroline shivered. His smile widened. "But where compelling someone fails, sweetheart, there are always other ways to coerce cooperation."

There was a squelching noise, as Klaus moved faster than she could track, and then sudden sounds of Abby Bennett gagging filled the air. Caroline twisted her head and froze, at the sight of Klaus crouched next to the witch, fingers and wrist glistening in the light. Blood ran down Abby's chin, the heart of the now-dead vampire shoved between her teeth. Abby tried to wretch, hands clawing at Klaus' wrist, but he was immovable.

"Did you assume I'd be pleased that you took it upon yourself to torture what is mine? That I'd be so easily played a fool? You've two choices," Klaus told Abby, tone lethal as his hand tightened on the organ so blood and fluid spurted. "Swallow or I force you. I cannot promise that blood will be the only bits forced down your throat. Organs are surprisingly delicate, particularly when fresh; the heart has so many layers, would you like to taste them?"

Abby gagged. Her body shuddered, face bleached of color as her throat worked, eyes rolling up in her head as she slumped. Klaus dropped the remains of the heart into her lap, bringing bloody fingertips to his mouth.

Caroline moved so she could see his' face better, her monster curious. The curl of his lips, the cut of his dimples, and the wicked glitter of enjoyment as his eyes shifted to her had her mouth running dry. The sudden spike of arousal from bloodstained lips and monstrous eyes left her heart pounding.

"Apologies, sweetheart, for not offering you the heart first," Klaus said, voice a low purr. "Particularly since it appears it will be some time before I can present you with Ms. Bennett's."

"You mean that," Caroline said slowly, studying his expression.

A quizzical smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, one brow arching upwards. "Why wouldn't I?"

_Why wouldn't I?_

Caroline licked her lips. "Abby is obsessed with destroying the other side; she appears to believe it'd be advantageous for you as well."

"She is not wrong," Klaus murmured, eyes narrowed as he studied her. "The destruction of the other side would eliminate a number of potential problems. Vampires and werewolves are rarely a concern once killed, but witches? Covens do occasionally attempt to resurrect their more powerful deceased members, creating several pesky inconveniences. Eliminating a line does inspire a certain caution for using such a spell, but why settle for merely responding to a problem when you can destroy the root? No other side means no more meddling spirits, no more inconvenient resurrections."

There was something else there, a note Caroline did not understand. When Klaus spoke of resurrections, violence darkened his expression, tightened his mouth. Her throat tightened at the idea that this might be personal for him.

She understood personal. Bonnie and Abby were personal to her. The contained violence of her monster, the fist in her chest at the idea that they'd find themselves on different sides, rattled her. Klaus would have to break her, to give the bones to Abby, and it terrified her that he might try.

"I _will not_ help Abby Bennett," Caroline told him, shoulders squaring. Head tilted, Klaus closed the distance between them.

"Abby's daughter, her bones, _these_ are what you'd die for?" His voice was rough, anger and a growling jealousy coloring his expression and voice.

"Yes," Caroline said fiercely. "Bonnie is _mine_."

His mouth tightened, wild clear in his gaze as he carefully brushed bloody fingertips down her chin; trailing a path down her carotid artery. Her eyes narrowed as her vampire crawled into her gaze with a sudden surge of bloodlust. Klaus smiled slowly, and his eyes sharpened as he deliberately brought up his thumb, to lick away a smear of blood.

"Would you like a taste? Not a particularly fine specimen, your torturer, but vengeance is always sweet on the tongue."

Before she could decide to move towards that tempting offer or snarl, Abby's head lolled forward and she lurched, torso contracting with her gag reflex.

"Ah ah," Klaus chided, moving quickly, fingers locking onto Abby's jaw, jerking her up. "Let's not ruin all that effort. Breaking your bones should be a treat for a bit later, hmm?"

"She's got a weak stomach," Caroline said, lips curling into a cold smile as anger turned her tone biting. "She stayed a good distance back when my insides were being examined. Not too fond of gore."

Klaus laughed and released Abby, fingertips trailing along the blood that ran across her chin and spilled down the witch's throat. The ruined heart sat on Abby's lap, growing cold and stiff.

"Well, this should be quite the bit of fun. I always do enjoy the squeamish ones."

Abby shuddered, at the edge to his tone. But as she looked up, her eyes were defiant. "You cannot possibly imagine this unmarked child can offer you more than I."

"Can I not?" he drawled, hands moving to clasp behind his back, smile taunting. "Tell me, Abigail Bennett, what could your continued life possibly offer me?"

Caroline snorted and Klaus looked towards her, brows arched in a silent question. Part of her watched, uncertain who he would choose. It shook her tentative confidence, that this destruction of the other side might be more important than her. That his plans would always come first. _Could she trust him_? After everything and with that what she held as most precious?

Only one way to find out.

"She's a terrible witch," Caroline told him, gazing shifting to Abby. "What happened to your powers, when Bonnie died? Can you even light a candle now, Abby? How disappointed Grams must be in the afterlife, watching you from the other side."

Abby lunged, hands curved into claws, but Klaus yanked her backwards by a fistful of hair. Caroline heard roots rip, relished Abby's cry of pain, and the rough way she was reseated. A surprise rush of arousal, low in her belly, as her monster _approved_.

"Now, none of that. _Manners_ , Ms. Bennett. I believe Caroline has asked you a question, has she not?" Klaus smoothed Abby's hair, and she flinched away from his mockery of a caress. "An answer, if you'd prefer to keep your hands as they are?"

"If you kill me," Abby said defiantly, "you'll never be truly immortal."

Klaus' smile sharpened. "You're mistaken, witch. I _am_ immortal."

Abby laughed. "Are you, hybrid? Do you think the spirits will allow you to remain so? That they will not work with your mother to destroy you? Your death means the end of all vampires. The werewolves are dying out on their own. Why would the witches not move against you?"

Instead of rage, Klaus' expression altered, amusement clear along the lines of his face. His voice was edged in mockery as his fingertips tapped chidingly against Abby's bloody chin.

"How does a witch know so little of balance? There is no good without evil, no light without darkness. Witches, werewolves and vampires are in a constant struggle, true; yet, nature is her own balancing act, for all that witches believe themselves keepers of it. Destroy all the vampires and something worse will rise from the ashes. Do you think to threaten me with an impossibility?"

Abby's expression shifted to a hate so potent, Caroline's monster crawled along her skin.

"What of your mother?"

"You have been busy, if you know of Esther. I've made such an effort to destroy what few legacies she'd left," Klaus mused as he studied Abby with calculating eyes. "What drives my departed mother is shame and vengeance, powerful forces to be certain, but hardly worth the spirits rising against me in force."

"You know nothing of the spirits," Abby countered defiantly. "They hate you and your kind, and do you think they are unaware of your weaknesses?"

"What power do you imagine you have to fight the spirits?" Caroline interrupted as the amusement drained from Klaus' face. "You were a mediocre witch _before_ Bonnie's death."

Abby's lips curled away from her teeth, but it was Klaus who spoke. "There are a number of magical practices that allow witches to pull on power outside of their own. The spirits you are familiar with, love, are one. Ancestral magic, such as the kind practice in New Orleans, is another. It is rare, for a modern witch to rely only on the magic she was born with. Fewer deaths that way."

Caroline blinked at him and he grinned. "Most forget magic breeds true, and I _was_ raised in a family full of witches. Always a good idea, to keep an eye on your enemies, to know their strengths and weaknesses."

Her stomach twisted, as she pieced together what Abby meant by his _mother_. Sudden, sinking knowledge turned her stomach to ice. Klaus' mother was a witch, and wanted him destroyed. Klaus referenced her as departed, but witches _could come back_.

"Is that why you need Bonnie's bones? To channel the power you stole, that you can no longer access?" Caroline demanded, gaze shifting back to Abby, who watched her with conniving eyes. "There are other Bennetts you could use, a number of distant cousins. What's so important that Bonnie wanted a nameless, unmarked grave?"

Abby compressed her lips, expression mutinous. Klaus clucked his tongue, reached out and casually broke two of her fingers. Abby screamed and Caroline jolted at the casualness of the violence, the maliciousness of Klaus' smile.

"Come now witch, Caroline asked a question. Would you prefer more broken bones? I do enjoy the study of individual pain thresholds. For instance, were you aware there are eight bones in each wrist?" Klaus queried as he smiled cruelly, even as his voice softened to a croon. "It's nearly impossible to break them individually, stacked as they are, but I'd be delighted to try. Of course, there is always the risk of shock; you humans are rather delicate, but that's easily dealt with."

A quick glance at the rapidly cooling body spoke to his intentions.

"Tell me, did you like the way your lackey tasted? Her blood would, of course, heal the damage done, so we'd need to start again. Judge how your tolerance changed. Bit of a nasty cycle: your body shutting down, only to be restarted, for the torture to begin anew."

"Bennett magic created the other side," Abby rasped; face pale, sweat beaded along her temples. "Bennett magic is needed to destroy it. Qetsiyah was no fool and not just any Bennett will do."

Klaus went still, head canted as the predator crawled back into his eyes. "Qetsiyah."

Abby smiled slowly as she straightened, gripping her broken hand carefully. "So you do know of Silas."

"I know of him."

Caroline shivered, at the softness of Klaus' voice, the edge that carved his words into the room. Catching her lip between her teeth, her gaze darted between the two as the feel of the room drastically shifted. A vice formed in her chest, stilled her lungs, as glee brightened Abby's face.

"Qetsiyah will never allow the other side to be destroyed; not as long as Amara and Silas exist. The spirits may have locked away my power, but there are always _ways_. Give me my daughter's bones, and I will destroy Amara's body, and I will _destroy_ my family's legacy."

"How?" Klaus demanded.

"As the anchor, Amara cannot be killed; her immortality is not like yours. But if we move the spell to objects that are easily destroyed..."

"No," Caroline exploded, eyes wild and red. "I will not let you do this to Bonnie. I will _not_."

When Klaus glanced towards Caroline, the blade of his gaze had her flinching back. The calculation in his eyes cut along her skin, and the idea that he'd side with Abby _hurt_. _Who_ was _Silas_?

Lifting her chin, nails cutting into her palms, Caroline swallowed hard. Drew her line. "I will not let Bonnie be used in death as she was in life. I will not give her up to Abby. I _won't_."

The volatile expression behind his gaze did not waiver, and Abby's voice cut through the tension between them. "My daughter is _my_ creation and I _will_ continue to use her as I see fit. I'll not allow her the peace of oblivion until she has served her purpose. She's already died, using her bones to anchor the other side should matter little to you; you will not stand in my way, Caroline Forbes. I should've killed you when I had the chance. What do you think you've offered him, that'd he'd choose you?"

Caroline froze at the spiteful question. Abby continued, eyes and smile sly. Everything about her face, her demeanor said she thought she'd won. Abby's words hammered at old insecurities and Caroline's monster stilled beneath her skin.

"Do you think he will pick you over power, over finally, _irrevocably_ destroying Esther? What can _you_ possible tempt a monster like him _with_? You, you begged for your life, who cried over her first kill? You are _nothing_."

Heart hammering, nails slicing into her palms, Caroline bared her fangs and hissed. Klaus made a rough, low noise, face tight with temper and there was a sudden explosion of movement; Abby fell to the ground, neck at an odd angle.

It took a moment for Caroline to comprehend what she was looking at.

"You broke her neck." The words slipped out before Caroline could catch them, surprise and shock pitching her tone high.

Klaus clasped his hands behind his back as he shifted to watch her, smile terrible. The look behind his eyes was dangerous, the mercurial moods of him on full display as he studied her, gaze dark and near feral. Her gaze dropped back to Abby's lifeless body and the rush of satisfaction Caroline felt surprised her.

Klaus interrupted her thoughts, voice low.

"Of course I did. There was never any question of Abby remaining a witch. Her death will take some time to properly orchestrate, and of course, once she transitions, that pesky detail of being unable to compel her disappears. Kol will determine what, if any, of her information is of use."

Alarm kicked up her pulse, and Caroline smelled blood as her nails bit deeply into her palms. "You can compel _vampires_?"

"Yes, although there are exceptions. Vervain is an annoyance, but easily dealt with. My siblings are unfortunately immune to any effects as, so I've been told, are you."

She blinked, hands relaxing marginally. "How?"

"Soulmate magic is finicky at best, and an equalizer at worst," Klaus drawled as he approached her. Reaching for her wrists, he lifted her palms and studied the rapidly healing half-moon cuts. Eyes catching hers, he licked the remains of her blood off one palm, then the other. Gaze edged by gold, he lingered along the veins of her wrist, teeth scraping pleasantly.

"Tell me about Bonnie Bennett."

Her breath caught, arousal warm in her veins, and she was caught off guard by his demand. She felt off kilter, the violence of him shifted to something like charm. Gold feathered through his gaze and left her mouth dry.

He'd broken Abby's neck. Ruined her ability to perform magic ever again, bound her to a monster's skin. The violence of it, the sudden wrenching, hadn't seemed born of tactics as much as of rage, and her insides shook, at those possibilities. Klaus had lost his temper, when Abby had taunted her.

What did that mean?

It took a moment, to find the words, to breath through the ache of old memories.

"When I was twenty years old, a monster told me to follow him," she said, voice ragged. "I did. Three days later, I was forcibly turned. Then Abby took Bonnie's magic. My mom…"

Her voice faltered, and Klaus never blinked, thumb rotating across the sensitive skin of her palm.

"Bonnie and I, we ended up here. In Chicago."

"A baby vampire and a broken witch," he murmured, brows coming together. "How hungry you must have been."

 _Hungry_. As if that single word could articulate how she'd shoved her monster into her bones, as she fought not to eat her friend. How she'd cried at the first truckstop, face and fingers sticky with blood her monster relished. The way Bonnie watched her with broken, judging eyes as Caroline tried to wipe away the blood with napkins, eventually sucking her fingers clean, the monster inside her starving.

"Yes."

"Tell me, Caroline, how do I make such loyalty mine?" Klaus rasped, eyes filled with iron. "Until you'd defy your nightmares for nothing more than a memory _for_ _me_? Shall I let Abby suffer endlessly at the hands of her fellow witches? Would you like her carved slowly, so that she will watch bits of herself fall away? _What price_ do you require?"

Her lips parted, and Caroline sucked in a breath. The violence of his words, the demand that tightened his grip along her bones, the biting greed of his tone. Loyalty to a monster, was this what they both craved?

"Why not ask me to give up the bones? You hate your mother." Caroline swallowed. "It's in your voice, your eyes."

Klaus laughed, pressing against her, blood stained fingers threaded through her hair to grip the nape of her neck. "You would not have given them to me."

She froze beneath his hold, at the feral smile that curled his lips, until his dimples creased deeply along his cheeks. "Why should I bargain with a witch? Particularly when you carry such defiance in your eyes?"

Her pulse beat stacco in her veins, as Klaus' gaze devoured her. Blood stained with their monster's just beneath their skin, and he looked at her as if Caroline could, as if she _should_ , always expect him to choose her. She caught her lip, uncaring of the prick fangs, and his gaze darkened with lust as blood beaded.

What if this need for her loyalty, the way she wanted _his_ , was _real_?

She wanted it.

So did she take it, take _Klaus,_ and was she willing to fight for this even if he wanted to give up? This wasn't a possible relationship, this wasn't a temporary matter. This was her eternity - blood soaked, violent, and vibrant beyond her imagination.

Caroline was good at fighting for people who didn't want to fight for her. Good at loving people who pushed her away. But her heart trembled at the idea that he _would_ fight for her.

Klaus had broken Abby's neck.

"How did you know I was in trouble?" She murmured, lifting her hands to wind her fingers into the softness of his shirt. His thumb traced down the knots of her spine, one edge of his mouth curling upwards.

"I couldn't hear your heartbeat."

Caroline blinked, and Klaus' eyes drifted down to her lips and lingered for a long moment, before his gaze returned to hers. The veins crawling into his eyes burnished them gold, dual monsters drinking her in. Her fingers tightened, threads popping, but his attention never wavered.

"I have found myself listening for it. I've known you for a handful of hours, the scantiest of moments in my lifetime, and I noticed the sudden silence where your heart should've been." The hand on her throat lifted, and his thumb stroked across her lips. "Five hundred years, Caroline. What are the ambitions of a single witch, compared to _this_?"

"I won't live my life waiting for you to betray me," Caroline said lowly, voice taut. His gaze narrowed, callouses shifting across her skin and she swallowed. "What does loyalty mean to you, Klaus? Because I won't follow you blindly, I won't acquiesce to your will in its name."

Her spine hit the wall, as Klaus' lips pulled away from his teeth in a feral smile. His palm was gentle against her jaw, fingers tight against the nape of her neck. His face pressed close, nose brushing against hers, and his words were wild. "Would you fight for me, Caroline? The way you've fought for _mere bones_?"

"I don't understand this connection between us, this _pull_. But I _want it_." She took a steadying breath, senses reeling as he crowded her, the scent of him mingled with blood and arousal. One hand lifted and she brushed careful fingertips along the scruff of his jaw. "Yes, I will fight for you."

Klaus went utterly, inhumanly still beneath her hands, gaze holding hers. The intensity, the feral edge hadn't waned, but it didn't rattle her as it had before. Instead, she felt relief and an odd, bubbling happiness. Choice made, decision done, the wildly careening emotions in her chest settled. _Klaus was hers._ She didn't expect it to be easy, but as her monster stretched along her bones, her lips curled upwards into a smile. Tilting her head so her mouth brushed delicately along his with each word, she dug her nails into the nape of his neck.

"But, to be perfectly clear, you'll _never_ break my neck again." She nipped his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood and Klaus' chest rumbled, eyes flashing. "Or I'll make you regret it."

It wasn't laughter that shot through his gaze, but arousal, and Caroline gasped as his hand moved to palm her ass and he hoisted her, hips grinding into the curve of her body. Teeth scraping down the line of her throat, Caroline scrambled to grip his shoulder, body arching tightly against his.

"There is no coming back from this," Klaus warned, voice a rumble between them. His chin tilted, eyes burning beneath his lashes. "There is no place you can run that I would not follow. It was no bluff, when I declared myself immortal, and you will spend that eternity with me, Caroline."

"You will not dictate this relationship," she told him imperiously, winding her legs around his hips. Raking her hand through his wild curls, she lowered her chin and held his gaze unflinchingly. "I will fight. So will you. Do not give me a reason to run, Klaus. I want to stay."

Her pulse leapt as the creeping abyss wound through his gaze, but it was the hand that slid beneath her shirt to palm her breast that had inhaling sharply. Fingers digging into her ass, Klaus rolled her nipple as he arched upwards, until his mouth caught hers. Hot and wet, Klaus seduced her mouth with his tongue; every slow lick and nip a contrast to the way he encouraged her to rock against him, the play of his fingers against her breast.

The borrowed boxers were a thin barrier against the line of his erection, the seam of his jeans grinding against her clit with each rough roll of her hips. Nails breaking skin, a high whine escaped her, her thighs clenched tightly around his hips as Klaus' human teeth sank into her lip. Klaus chased the blood spilling down her chin with his tongue, chest rumbling with a wolf's enjoyment. Pulling back, he licked his lips, catching the remaining smears of blood.

"I am what I am, Caroline," Klaus said softly, hand trailing along the back of her thigh. She shivered, at the scrap of callouses, and the soft warning to his tone that mingled with the roughness of his arousal. "I can be nothing else."

"I know," Caroline murmured, fingers flexing against the muscles of his back. "I won't ask that, but we both have lines. What do we do with those?"

He made a considering noise, hand sliding to trace beneath the hem of her boxers. "We'll deal with them as they arrive, love. As best we can."

Blowing out a breath, she nodded. Klaus smiled at her, nearly sweet. But then his gaze shifted, tongue swiping across his lips as his eyes dragged along her body. A shot of arousal had her breath hitching, and his pleased rumble her parted her lips on a shaky moan.

"Good," Klaus murmured. "Now, as much as I've enjoyed seeing you in my things, Caroline, I very much prefer you naked."

A laugh burbled in her throat at his tone, but it died as his head dipped to suck strongly at one nipple under her shirt. Spine arching, she moved to fist one hand in his hair, hips grinding into his. Klaus moaned as he switched breasts at a particularly rough tug of his hair, even as he encouraged her legs to unwind. Complaining in the back of her throat, she rocked against him instead.

Klaus scraped his teeth against the curve her breasts as he ripped away the boxers. She panted, at the rough brush of denim without a barrier. She protested as he urged her legs away from his hips a second time, his mouth moving to drag across her collarbones.

"This will be easier without my pants, love."

She bit his lips bloody in retaliation at the amusement in his voice, and let one leg drop. It seemed to be all he needed, sounds of his jeans slithering down his thighs. She pulled back, gulping in a lungful of air as his forearm hitch her lifted leg higher. Gaze blazing, Klaus pressed her against the wall and entered her in one rough thrust. Caroline cried out his name, and he buried his face in her throat.

"I'm going to make you come, just like this," Klaus rasped near her ear, hips grinding against her clit. Caroline's hands scrabbled against his back, nails puncturing cloth and skin as her head slammed back, whine catching in her throat. "Then I'm going to spread you across the table like a feast and see just how mindless you can become with my tongue against your clit. I love how you sound, all hoarse and desperate, body trembling for me."

"What," Caroline gasped as she clenched down around the length of him, shuddering as his teeth scraped behind her ear. "Is wrong with the bed?"

Klaus gripped her ass, pulling her onto his next thrust. The angle was delicious, each rock of her hips and thrust of his cock sliding against her clit; the leg not hitched along his arm giving her leverage to push against his body. The flex of the muscles under her hands and the gravel in Klaus' voice told her she wasn't the only one affected, but it took a moment for her brain to understand the words rasped against her ear.

"Abby Bennett will be out for hours yet, but when she wakes, it'll be to the smell of blood, our mingled arousal. I want her to wake, knowing how completely she failed, just how utterly she misjudged what you've given me." The surge of heat, the clench of her body at the picture he painted turned the next snap of his hips rough, and he bit off a curse. "I want her to remember the scents when she's screaming in agony, to know that torture I offer you ends only in cries of pleasure."

Another thrust, and a rough grind of his hips and Caroline tipped over the edge. Klaus groaned into her throat, body trembling through his own release, their breathing harsh in the silence of the room. Caroline shivered at the soft, open mouthed kisses that he pressed up the column of her throat as she slowly came down. He pulled back, as her breathing evened, gaze open and steady as he met her eyes.

"I will destroy anything and anyone who attempts to take you from me, Caroline. Utterly, and without any further justification. Those who consider you to be expendable will simply cease to exist. You are mine. Do you understand?"

Caroline ran her nails down the nape of his neck, just to see him shiver in pleasure. Her other hand cupped the harsh line of his jaw, and she nodded. Regardless of how the centuries played out, she'd fight for this man. He wanted to fight for her.

"Yes," she murmured. Her gaze caught his, held it. "But if I am yours Klaus, you are mine. I do not share."

His lips curled, dimples bracketing sin, and Klaus pressed his mouth lightly against hers. "Good. Now, I believe I have promises to keep, sweetheart."

They broke the coffee table.

Klaus ruined the chair he'd broken Abby's neck on when she sucked his cock between her lips; his words foreign and profane, hands tight in her hair. The carpet burns on her hands and knees healed easily, with Klaus' blood on her tongue, his fangs in her shoulder.

Later, Caroline sprawled against his chest, drowsy and sated. Her hair was a wild mess beneath the stroke of Klaus' fingertips, and there was a corpse and a transitioning witch only feet away from her sated body. The carpet was littered with broken furniture, and per Klaus' promise, the air smelled heavily of sex and blood.

But she couldn't find it in herself to care.

For the first time in decades, her monster settled easily beneath her skin. Klaus' uninhibited approach to his own monsters didn't allow shame for demanding what she'd needed from him. She shivered, warmth rekindling in her veins as she thought about just how hard she'd gotten off, staring at the corpses of her enemies.

Fingers feathering across the bird tattoos near her cheek, Caroline knew that one day, if Klaus asked her for Bonnie's bones, she'd give them to him.

Not today, not tomorrow, but one day they'd reach that point. For the first time in her life, she found herself looking at a future with someone strong enough to stand with her and not behind her. All he seemed to want in return was that she fight for him.

Pushing up on her elbows, Caroline studied the face of the nightmare beneath her. First her torturer and now her lover. Klaus arched a brow but remained silent, even as the sounds of Abby Bennett beginning to stir broke the silence of the room. Abby was inconsequential now, trapped in a bloody nightmare where Caroline intended to leave her.

Lip between her teeth, Caroline slowly smiled, dragging her fingertips up to Klaus' collarbones. Leaning down, ruined curls framing their faces, she kissed him. Pulling up before he could deepen the contact, she smiled brightly. Happy.

His eyes drank her in, as if he'd been starved for such a look.

"What next?" She questioned, voice bright.

His smile was a slow, covetous thing, fingertips pressing against her skin greedily. "How do you feel about Rome?"

* * *

_**Please Comment** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge, huge thank you to justanotherfiveminutes for all her her help in making this story better than it would be otherwise.


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